Mammals xenobiotics

Many of the phase 1 enzymes are located in hydrophobic membrane environments. In vertebrates, they are particularly associated with the endoplasmic reticulum of the liver, in keeping with their role in detoxication. Lipophilic xenobiotics are moved to the liver after absorption from the gut, notably in the hepatic portal system of mammals. Once absorbed into hepatocytes, they will diffuse, or be transported, to the hydrophobic endoplasmic reticulum. Within the endoplasmic reticulum, enzymes convert them to more polar metabolites, which tend to diffuse out of the membrane and into the cytosol. Either in the membrane, or more extensively in the cytosol, conjugases convert them into water-soluble conjugates that are ready for excretion. Phase 1 enzymes are located mainly in the endoplasmic reticulum, and phase 2 enzymes mainly in the cytosol. 

Excretory processes for xenobiotics are best understood for mammals, with far less work having been done on birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Highly lipophilic compounds show little tendency to be excreted unchanged. In the absence of effective metabolism, they tend to have very long biological half-lives in depot fat. Thus, half-lives of about 1 year have been reported for p,p -DDE in birds, whereas higher... 

In mammals, peptide hormones typically contain only the a-amino acids of proteins finked by standard peptide bonds. Other peptides may, however, contain nonprotein amino acids, derivatives of the protein amino acids, or amino acids finked by an atypical peptide bond. For example, the amino terminal glutamate of glutathione, which participates in protein folding and in the metabolism of xenobiotics (Chapter 53), is finked to cysteine by a non-a peptide bond (Figure 3—3). The amino terminal glutamate of thyrotropin-... 

Egaas, E., J.U. Skaare, N.O. Svendsen, M. Sandvik, J.G. Falls, W.C. Dautennan, T.K. Collier, and J. Netland. 1993. A comparative study of effects of atrazine on xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes in fish and insect, and of the in vitro phase II atrazine metabolism in some fish, insects, mammals and one plant species. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 106C 141-149. 

Many investigations of relevant enzymes in transformation of xenobiotics by aquatic species have shown that the similar enzymes observed in metabolism in soil, plant, and mammals play a role, such as esterases and oxidases [10, 159, 160]. Metabolism of pyrethroids has been most extensively studied in fish for cypermethrin (5) and permethrin (15). Aromatic hydroxylation at the 4 -position of the 3-phenoxybenzyl moiety followed by conjugation with glucuronic acid... 

Mueller and Miller (33) and Brodie et al. (34) were the first to show that enzymes in the microsomal fraction of rat liver could effectively oxidize xenobiotics. Comparable enzymes (aryl hydrocarbon monooxygenases) were later reported in the hepatic tissues of fresh water and marine fish by Creaven et al. (35) and Buhler and Rasmusson (36). Reconstituted hepatic microsomal systems require cytochrome P-450 for monooxygenase activity in both mammals (37) and fish (38,39). Bend et al. 

More than 130 years ago, Keller (1 ) reported the isolation of hippuric acid (benzoylglycine) from the urine of horses fed pure benzoic acid and so ushered in our modern era of metabolism investigations on xenobiotics (foreign substances in the environment). In addition to the valuable basic knowledge of the biological processes of terrestrial animals provided by such studies, the advent of regulations controlling the use of pesticides stimulated research on the disposition of these chemicals by both mammals and insects (2). 

Routes of entry - fish and mammals share two potential routes of entry, namely oral and percutaneous. Mammals also absorb xenobiotics via the lungs while gill absorption is possible in fish. 

Plasma binding - both the quantity and types of proteins in plasma differ in these classes of animals. Mammals tend to have large amounts of protein compared with fish (ca. 8 vs 3 g/100 ml) and albumin, the protein which binds most xenobiotics, is negligible in a number of fish species. 

In the present compilation of the distribution and pharmacokinetic data of a dozen xenobiotics studied in the dogfish shark, this species yielded excellent data consistent with what we know from similar studies on terrestrial mammals. The data from the shark occasionaly provided information not available in other animals. Major transport parameters in this fish were shown to be similar to those found in mammals. This aquatic organism handles lipid-soluble pollutants by sequestering them in its fatty liver. Together with a previous summary (23) we have now studied about three dozen xenobiotics in this species. Because of its ease of handling, low cost, abundance, predictive value of transport mechanisms, and well-developed pharmacokinetics, the dogfish shark is an ideal fish species to use as a model to study aquatic pollutants. 

In eukaryotes, such as mammals and fungi, epoxide hydrolases play a key role in the metabolism of xenobiotics, in particular of aromatic systems [30,31 ]. On the other hand, in prokaryotes (e.g. bacteria) these enzymes are essential for the utilization of alkenes as carbon-source. In general, aromatics can be metabolized via two different pathways (Scheme 5) (i) dioxetane formation via dioxyge-... 

Klopman, G. and Tu, M. (1999) META. A program for the prediction of the products of mammal metabolism of xenobiotics. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK. 

The definition of a poison, or toxicant, also involves a qualitative biological aspect because a compound, toxic to one species or genetic strain, may be relatively harmless to another. For example, carbon tetrachloride, a potent hepatotoxicant in many species, is relatively harmless to the chicken. Certain strains of rabbit can eat Belladonna with impunity while others cannot. Compounds may be toxic under some circumstances but not others or, perhaps, toxic in combination with another compound but nontoxic alone. The methylenedioxyphenyl insecticide synergists, such as piperonyl butoxide, are of low toxicity to both insects and mammals when administered alone but are, by virtue of their ability to inhibit xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes, capable of causing dramatic increases in the toxicity of other compounds. 

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